


Relapse

by Demigod2405



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cancer, Hospitalization, Partying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21682678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demigod2405/pseuds/Demigod2405
Summary: Hopper gets called to another one of Stevie Harringtons' parties. This one takes a turn he wasn't expecting and is not enjoying.
Relationships: Steve Harrington & Jim "Chief" Hopper
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Relapse

Another house party was when it happened.

Chief Hopper had been doing nightly patrol by himself when the radio had gone off, telling any units near the Harrington residence to make their way to the mansion and deal with the noise complaints. This wasn’t a surprise. It happened twice a year. Twice a year Stevie Harrington threw a massive party at her house and invited any and everybody that wanted to come. Hopper had shut down these parties before and had had the pleasure of dealing with the hordes of sweaty drunk teenagers. He knew what to do at this point. So he picked up the radio and responded with an affirmative of his position before shifting his patrol car into drive and pulling onto the road.

The drive there was quiet and it gave him time to think. Of _why_ Stevie threw these parties when she did, and why didn’t she attend them herself. Don’t think he hadn’t noticed that. Whenever he had gone to shut them down in the past, Stevie had been nowhere to be seen. Not until his partner had turned the patrol cars’ lights on and flashed the siren just for a second. After that, Stevie had appeared at the top of the stairs in tank-top and sleeping short with her hair loose down her back. She had padded her bare feet down the stairs and gently pushed the drunk boy in his face back into the heat of the house so she could face him instead. When he had told her that the number of noise complaints meant the party had to be shut down, Stevie had just nodded and walked into the house. A second later he had heard the music shut out and Stevie voice, not shouting but carrying enough to be heard, telling people that they had celebrated life enough and that it was ‘time to stumble home’. Hopper had been impressed that such a little girl in pajamas could command such an unruly drunk group of people. But he supposed she didn’t earn her title of ‘Queen Steve’ by being a doormat.

When he reached the Harrington home, it was just like he had suspected. Lights were on in every downstairs window, nothing on in the top floors but he knew that Stevie was up there. Pulling up in front of the house, he played the siren and flashed the lights before picking his way through the passed out kids on the front lawn and to the front door. It swung open when he knocked and a shrieking ginger girl was jumped on by her blonde friend and pulled away from the door. Hopper just shook his head and waited for Stevie. And waited, and waited. He shifted from one foot to the other, Stevie always greeted him when he came knocking. It got to about 5 minutes before he became worried. Stevie and him had been doing this dance for three four years now. Ever since she had entered high school and had soared in popularity. Her not answering the door to him was not like her.

Chief Hopper stood still for maybe an extra second before forcing his feet forward into the house. He bee-lined for the stairs and slowly made his way up, dodging drunk teenagers that he noticed didn’t go above the top step. Once on the first floor landing, Hopper paused, all the doors were the same, pale cream with dark oak frame, which one was Stevies’? He went to the first door on the left, nobody in there and the bedside held a wedding picture so this must be the Harrington parents’ room. That raised the question of their location. Where was the Harrington parents that Stevie was able to throw these parties every year? It wasn’t just these two parties either. Stevie threw many parties every year. A Valentine day party, a Start of Summer party, an End of Summer party, a Halloween party, a Christmas party and of course a New Years’ Eve bash. On top of the two ‘Celebrating Life’ parties. Those took place on the summer solstice and the winter solstice. The summer solstice party was always outside, making use of the fire-pit and the pool light to counter the seemingly never ending sunlight. The winter solstice party was indoors mostly, with fairy lights and lava lamps lighting up the place. Stevies’ parents had to notice at some point – right?

Another door led to an over the top bathroom in all black and white marble. Huge shower with all glass sliding doors, huge corner bathtub that looked more like a hot tub and two sinks with golden faucets. Another door led back into the bedroom that he had deduced to be the Parents room so he moved on. He opened the next door and found just a guest room, clean but no personal artifacts at all. Next. He paused, at the back of the house was a bedroom that looked like it was actually lived in. The white and light blue room was beautiful but not posh. It had been decorated with style but also comfort in mind – evident in the cotton cushions on the bed rather than the silk ones on the parents and guest bed. The duvet had been thrown off the bed, half hanging on and half on the floor, with wrinkled sheets where someone had recently slept. Stevie – Bingo.

He edged into the room, looking for anything out of place. There was a glass of water on the bed side with condensation still on the side, Photo frames rested in silver frames – he’s sure he saw one of him on there, that photo of him and Joyce most likely – with the kids’ faces dotted throughout, a lava lamp was still on casting a blue green glow across the room. Nothing seemed out of place until he walked a little further into the room. An open door way suddenly flooded with light, automatic sensors most likely. The Chief froze and stared. Stevie Harrington was curled up on the floor in the Fetal position, clutching her stomach. The toilet had blood on the rim and there was blood around Stevies’ mouth.

The Chief lurched forward through the doorway and landed on his knees by her side. He gently placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her onto her back, Stevie groaned and tried to re-curl herself but he stopped her. Other than the blood on her lips and teeth, Stevie also had a layer of sweat over her skin and the glands on her neck had swollen. Not good, not good! He pulled his radio from his belt and requested an ambulance to be sent to the Harrington Residence immediately. He then picked Stevie up and gently placed her on her bed where she immediately curled up, groaning in pain. He rubbed her back and was startled when a loud smash echoed from upstairs. Right, the party. He was hesitant to leave Stevie on her own but didn’t want the paramedics to have to fight through rowdy drunk teens. He hesitantly approached the door, looking back every few steps to make sure Stevie wasn’t getting worse, before slipping through and schooling his face.

The music was deafening in the front room and he could feel his body temperature rise ever second he stayed in the vicinity but he needed to do this – for Stevie. He weaved around coffee tables and couches full of lip locking couples before he found what he was looking for, the music box. It was a weird thing with a lot on buttons that all had weird anagrams on them, he pulled the plug out of the wall and bypass all the buttons. A loud groan and whine came from behind him so he turned around and squared his shoulders. Most of the older people understood what was happening and started ambling towards the door until only the drunk teenagers were left. He started posturing and being vaguely threatening towards them and the rest of them left. It took a further 5 minutes to get every last person out and he rushed back upstairs to check on Stevie.

She was still curled on her side and the blood around her mouth had started to crust and flake. He let out a groan at the image and got a warm rag from the bathroom before wiping her face as gently as he could. Reassurances poured from his lips and he brushed the matted sweaty hair from her face and neck before placing a kiss on her forehead. It was incredibly warm and he furrowed his brow and worried. It shouldn’t be that warm – at all. A siren was heard on the horizon and he unwillingly left Stevie side to wave them down. It would be incredibly hard to miss the massive mansion with all of its’ downstairs lights on but he was paranoid. Stevie reminded him of Sarah in a way. The times that he had seen her outside of the parties or the school (or the station) she had been a sweet girl. He had been on patrol when she had flagged him down and took him to an empty lot with several piles of junk on it. He had been confused until Stevie lifted a pallet and a baby was uncovered. Stevie had lifted the child so gently and held them to her chest and just looked at him. He had relented and driven her to the station with the baby in her arms.

He had accessed the security cameras around the lot and tracked the parents that had dumped the baby before arresting them. He had let Stevie keep the baby in her custody until the parents were put away. Turns out while the baby in her care, Stevie Harrington had used the Harringtons’ connections to take an intensive fostering care course and got cleared to be a Foster Carer. It had made relocating the baby incredibly easy. Once the ‘friends’ of Stevies’ parents and housekeepers/cleaners heard of what Stevie was doing, the baby had several potential parents wanting to see them. Stevie had worked with the police – ergo Him – to select the correct people and had the child adopted within the year. Hopper had worked with Stevie a few times over the years, whenever foster homes got overflowed – Hopper sent the kids to Stevie and she looked after them. He had noticed after about a year that Stevies connections meant that the kids in her care were adopted quicker and into more stable homes. He started sending the more… troubled… kids to Stevie and she helped them cope. Stevie really was a god send.

The Ambulance pulled up and the paramedics followed his rushing form back into the house and towards Stevie. They took one look at her and rushed into work mode. He stood at the side and let them work, desperately hoping that they could help Stevie feel and get better. They moved Stevie onto a stretcher but let her stay on her side, curled inwards and groaning and grumbling in pain. Hopper shook himself out of his frozen stupor and rushed after the stretcher, watching the paramedics load Stevie into the ambulance and closed the doors after them. He took a breather and then another one before slamming the door to his cop car. He sat for maybe 5 seconds before letting out a sudden and vicious yell and punching his dashboard. Why was the world so vicious to such good people? He turned the key in the ignition and peeled out of the driveway with the tires screaming at him but he paid them no mind. He was only focused on getting to the hospital.

He parked incredibly crooked but again, didn’t pay it any attention. Instead he rushed into the reception and slammed his badge down on to the counter. They almost refused to tell him anything about Stevie given that he ‘wasn’t a relation’ but his badge stopped that really quickly and he was given a room number. It took him a while to find the right room. Because it was on the cancer ward. The last time he had been here was with Sarah. A weight settled in his stomach and just got heavier and heavier until he reached room 11. Stevie was laying on the bed, propped up a little with pillows and an adjustable headrest. She had a heart rate monitor clamped over her finger and an IV tube in each arm. One bag had clear fluid in it and was emptying drip by drip into the IV tube, the other had a vibrant orange chemical in it. A chemical that he recognized. He couldn’t remember the name for the life of him but Sarah had received it quite a few times during her cancer battle. Stevie sat up upon noticing him and removed the oxygen mask from around her face and greeted him.

He sat down heavy in the plastic covered bedside chair and took several breathes. Stevie didn’t really seem to want to talk so he just extended his hand and placed it over hers. A doctor or nurse entered the room with a folder and took the chart from the end of Stevies bed. She sighed and added the chart into the folder before looking Stevie in the eyes. Hopper almost zoned out during the talk but the key points kept echoing in his head. “Leukemia’ ‘Relapse’ ‘4 years clean’ ‘Relapse’ ‘Surgery’ ‘ _Relapse_ ’. Stevie Harrington had suffered from Leukemia from the ages of 9 to 13. She had been diagnosed after she fainted at her 9th birthday dinner – on the summer solstice. She had been declared Cancer free 4 and a half years later – on the winter solstice. That was why Stevie had people celebrate life on those dates but didn’t celebrate herself. And now, Stevie had relapsed. Her Cancer was back and seemingly worse than before. Hopper watched as Stevie just sighed then nodded and laid back, letting the doctor open the Orange chemical IV up more, increasing the dose.

Hopper just sat there and watched as the doctor talked to Stevie informally and even asked about her love life and her school life. He was hit with the realization that this was probably the doctor that looked after Stevie when she was first admitted with cancer. Once the doctor was done with Stevie, Hopper let her sleep and caught the doctor in the hallway. He needed to inform Stevies’ parents of this development. He started when the doctor told him not too. He froze further when the doctor pulled him in to a deserted side room and informed him that in the 4 and a half years that Stevie was in the hospital with cancer, her parents had not visited her once. Her only visitor was the housekeeper/Nanny she had had. A lovely Black lady called Mrs Henry. He was given her number and was then left alone. How had Stevie lasted this long?

The call to Mrs Henry was awkward at first until he got to his point. She had been silent then just said ‘I’m on my way’ and hung up. Hopper just breathed some more and was selfishly happy that he didn’t have to bare this alone. He sat in the hallway and just breathed, waiting for the lady to turn up. Hopefully Stevie had gotten through this meaning she could go through it again. Hopper just prayed. Hoped and prayed.


End file.
